Gematriot - the numerical values of the Holy Hebrew Letters, reveal the deeper meaning of what the Torah wants to convey to us. Far more than just an intellectual game, Hashem - with His complex wisdom via the road of Gematriot - teaches us all about living the REAL Jewish way of life. Gematriot are mentioned in virtually every section of Jewish literature - Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, and Halacha.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

#111 - ONE Becomes One THOUSAND

Today - 16 Tammuz 5771 - is a very special day in the life of www.gematriot.blogspot.com. Today is the 1,000th day since I began www.gematriot.blogspot.com on Motzoei Simchat Torah (night of 23 Tishrei) 5769. If this was another Torah blogspot that didn't deal specifically with Gematriot, it would still be a special day marking the one thousandth day since a source of Torah composition had begun.

To tell you the truth, I had foreseen writing this 111th blogpost on this 1,000th day many months ago. It is true that the number 111 consists of three number ones. But in Hebrew, this number is much more than this, especially as it relates to the number one. You see, in Hebrew, the name of the first letter of the Alef Beit is ALEF - which consists of the letters Alef (1), Lamed (30), Phei Sophit (80), these three letters adding up to the total sum of 111! Surely, this can't be waved as a mere coincidence, especially as the name of the FIRST letter of the Alef Beit!

But wait, there is more! The word/name Alef using different letters, can also be read as ELEF - ONE THOUSAND! Hence, the same word - without the use of written vowels - can technically be read as either the name of the letter of the Alef Beit which is the numerical value of ONE, or can be read as the word ONE THOUSAND.

In fact, when writing the letters as numbers in Hebrew, when it comes to the number 1,000 and up, the (first) letter used as (part of) the number is ALEF. So, instead of being a letter at the end of the number to spell the number, for example, 5771 - Hei, Tav, Shin, Ayin, Alef - the number of this Hebrew year, the letter Alef takes the primary role for the numbers 1,000 through 1,999; and then it is the turn of the next letter Beit to take the primary role as the beginning letter of a number for the next thousand numbers, and so on.

Now, there is another angle here to the number one in the Gematriot world. OK, I mentioned a little earlier that the word/name Alef (or Elef for that matter) has three letters - Alef, Lamed, Phei Sophit. Now, in regular Gematria Pei/Phei is 80, and so is it as a Pei/Phei Sophit, the varied form of Pei/Phei used at an end of a word. In another form of Gematria, there are five letters of the Alef Beit that look different at the end of a world - Kaf/Chaf, Mem, Noon, Pei/Phei, Tzadi (Sophit means end, as the end letter of a word) - which have the normal respective numerical values of 20, 40, 50, 80, 90; but...can have higher Gematriot letters than the last regular letter Tav/Sav (400). In this instance, these letters have the respective numerical values of 500, 600, 700, 800, 900. Hence, in the letters spelling the word Alef, the Phei Sophit is the Gematria of 800; thus, Alef (1), Lamed (30), Phei Sophit (800) equals 831.

With this said, what does ELEF=1,000 minus 831 - the total Gematria of this word (ALEF or ELEF) equal? 169. In turn, the square root of 169 is 13, or 13*13. And in Hebrew, the word for the number ONE is Echad, and as the word Echad, is the Gematria of 13! Hence, the word Alef being the Gematria of 831 PLUS the Gematria of the word Echad=13 times itself totalling 169 becomes the GRAND TOTAL of ONE THOUSAND - ELEF.WOW!

Now in English, we find an amazing thing that is similar to the ALEF-ELEF connection.As all languages are somehow based on Hebrew - at one time the ONLY language that was spoken until the Towel of Babel was being built when Hashem decided to nix this project by having different people speak different languages - the letter A parallels the Hebrew letter Alef. Now, when we spell the words for each number in English - one, two, etc. we encounter an amazing thing. The FIRST time that the letter A appears in a spelled out number is the number ONE THOUSAND (one thousAnd)! This is to note that ALL words in English have at least one vowel letter - A,E,I,O,U or sometimes Y. Hence, this phenomenon speaks out even louder for it took a FEW THOUSAND WORDS until reaching the the words for the number ONE THOUSAND to produce the first A!

While the last thing that I wrote here may sound like a coincidence since this this does not directly involve Hebrew letters - it must be noted that one of the many titles of Hashem is Alufo Shel Olam - Chief of the World, the word Alufo being cognate of the word Alef/Elef. Thus, Hashem speaks to us through language - in any and every language. In fact, as we see in the Book of Deutronomy, the Torah (don't know if it refers to the Torah or to a specific part of the Torah) was written in ALL the seventy languages of the world that existed in the times of Moses; thus denoting the fact that in fact, Hashem speaks to ALL the nations to follow him, but only the Jews are the ones who are aware that Hashem is speaking to them.

Now that I writing about Hashem, the Jews, and the Torah - each of these THREE have a special connection with the number one, as the word Alef/Elef bearing the plain Gematria of 111 having a special connection with THREE units of ones. Well, we know that Hashem is ONE, meaning, that there is only ONE G-d, and cannot be divided into a trinity such as is painted by the Christian religion. Also, a number of Hashem's names or titles begin with an Alef - E-l, E-lohim, A-donoy, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, Alufo Shel Olam (NOTE: In English, some of these words begin with an E,rather than an A, as the vowel in Hebrew sometimes makes it sound like this since the letter Alef is a silent letter).

We see that the Jews are called "ONE nation on the earth" a statement that we make in the Sabbath afternoon Shemoneh Esrei prayer.

And the Torah is ONE Torah - and not the way that Christianity has it as the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament". Hashem did not wake up one day and make changes on us Jews to tell us that now, we have a "new covenant" or a "new testament". Hashem makes it VERY CLEAR in the Torah that a self exclaimed prophet who claims the slightest change in the Torah (unless it is a momentary decision for a specific period of time, but not meant to be a permanent change) is liable to death for daring to change a part of the Torah that is the PERMANENT LAW. Additionally, we see that the Ten Commandments, the foundation of the 613 Mitzvot/Commandments of the Torah, begin with the letter Alef. And the Aramaic word for Torah - Oraita - also begins with the letter Alef.

THE NUMBER 1,000 IS THE 28TH LETTER OF THE ALEF-BEIT

As I mentioned earlier, there are five Hebrew letters that are shaped a little differently at the end of a word, and in one dimension of Gematria, can equal higher numbers than the other 22 letters of the Alef Beit. Hence, the 28th letter technically is once again the letter Alef - but as the Gematria of 1,000 rather than the number one.

This is in fact hinted right at the beginning of the Torah. You see, there are exactly 28 letters to the first verse of the Torah. And the very first Rashi on the Torah - on the beginning words of this verse - quotes from Psalm 111 (this number equaling the word for the number Elef - one thousand!) Koach Ma'asav... "The STRENGTH of his words He told to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations". The first word of this verse - Koach - spells the number 28!

It is in this context that Hashem can be called the ALUFO Shel Olam - Chief of the world, since the other nations want to claim that Israel belongs to them, and that the Jews "stole" it from them. However, it is the ALUFO Shel Olam - Chief or Master of the world, Who decides to whom Israel belongs, and in case the other nations want to excuse themselves that they didn't know better - well, the Bible speaks in very clear times as to the fact that He is giving the Holy Land to the Jews, and the Bible also lists the exact boundaries, so the nations can't claim later "but we didn't know this for a fact". Indeed, many Christians who claim that they believe in the Bible conveniently close their Bibles when it comes to Jews living in Israel, as they fall for the Moslem Arabs' claims that they are entitled to Israel as well, and hence justify creating a country called Palestine. After all, the Moslem religion admits the evil Christian founder as a prophet, if not a god or Messiah, and hence, Christians deep down feel a greater respect for the Moslem religion, since unlike Judaism, Islam believes in the credibility of the evil JC, even if just as a prophet.

THE ALEINU PRAYER

Aside from the main prayer called Shemoneh Esrei that is recited at least three times a day, the Aleinu prayer is recited at the end of every prayer service. This prayer consists of two paragraphs - the first is about the significant difference between us Jews and the other nations, ending off describing Hashem's praises, and the second paragraph speaks of the time in the future when the nations of the world will turn to only one G-d.

At one time, this prayer had a big challenge at the censor's desk. You see, it was often Christians ironically who were printing our holy books. Mind you, some of them knew Hebrew, and at times, they were able to see the translation that was ready for print. They certainly weren't too happy seeing our prayers degrading the non-Jews for worshiping idols. This especially came to light when you had Jews who very unfortunately converted to Christianity and used Gematria to help hurt the Jews by stating that when it states in the first paragraph "for they (the non-Jews) bow down to vanity AND EMPTINESS" the words in caps being the translation for the Hebrew word V'Reek, that this word is the same Gematria as the word/name Yeishu (316) which is used to refer to the Christian god JC, since this three letter Hebrew word consists of the letters Yud-Shin-Vav stands for the word Yimach Shemo V'Zichro- "May his name and memory be erased". Hence, the Jewish apostates were claiming that we were mocking the non-Jews for worshiping JC in our prayers.

Anyways, this prayer - at least according to some versions in the Siddur/prayer book, consists of exactly 169 words. The last word - the 169th word - of this prayer, is Echad/one - this word being the Gematria of 13; and as we mentioned before, the square root of 169 is 13. We sure await the day that the nations of the world will recognize the one true religion - Judaism - when everyone will know that "Hashem is one and His name is one", the concluding words of this Aleinu prayer.

HOW MANY LETTERS UNTIL THE NUMBER 1,000?

Recently, my curiosity got me to figure out how many Hebrew letters are used in the count from one until one thousand. Without using a calculator, I was able to figure the answer to this in a short time. I will save the answer until the end of the presentation of the calculations which I will show you right here - something that you will see ONLY at www.gematriot.blogspot.com.

The Alef Beit, consisting of 22 letters, is divided up into three parts:1)The letters Alef through Teit- the Gematriot of 1 thru 9.2)The letters Yud through Tzadi- the Gematriot of every 10th letter - 10 thru 90.3)The letters Koof=100, Reish=200, Shin=300, Tav=400.

The following are how many times each letter is used as part of a number until 1,000:

1)Alef thru Teit are each used as every 10th letter at the end of a number; hence, each of these letters are used 100 times until the number 1,000.

2)Yud thru Tzadi are each used 10 times in a row in every 100 numbers at the beginning of a number; hence, each of these letters are also used 100 times until the number 1,000.

3)BUT the last four letters are used more often until the number 1,000 - the payoff for the delay of being used, unlike the first 18 letters for the first 99 numbers, and are also used at the beginning of a number.3A)Significantly, Koof - the Gematria of 100 - is the FIRST letter that is used 100 times CONSECUTIVELY - from 100 until 200.3B)Reish then takes over for the next 100 numbers from 200 until 300.3C)Shin then takes over for the next 100 numbers from 300 until 400.3D)BUT when Tav - the last letter of the Alef-Beit - takes over, it is not just for the next 100 letters in a row. For waiting the longest to be used, it is rewarded for being used FOR THE NEXT 600 numbers from 400 until 1,000!

However, we are not quite finished yet. You see, the way that Hashem created the 22 letters of the Alef Beit ALONG WITH THEIR GEMATRIOT - the last four letters of the Alef Beit - AS THE SECOND LETTER IN A NUMBER - start in cycles of 400. Hence, when the Koof started as the number 100, being used for 100 consecutive numbers, it starts being used again at the number 500, following the letter Tav (500-100=400). It follows that Koof is used from 500 until 600, Reish from 600 until 700, Shin from 700 until 800, and the second Tav is used from 800 until 1,000. And what do we see here? Two things: 1)The second Tav isn't just used for 100 numbers like Koof, Reish, and Shin, but like the first Tav, the second Tav ALSO STAYS UNTIL 1,000! 2)The last letter Tav is THE ONLY LETTER THAT IS USED TWICE IN A NUMBER! Yes, patience pays off!

We are almost done before giving the awaited answer. When the number reaches 900, the letter Koof is brought back to the plate for a THIRD ROUND OF 100 NUMBERS. However, what is ironic here is that the later letters Reish & Shin WILL NOT be used for a third round until 1,000. Why it this so? I have two theories:

1)The fact that Koof is the first letter to be used for 100 consecutive numbers and is itself the Gematria of 100, the fact that it is used for a third time in the course of 999 numbers - unlike Reish & Shin - being that three times is what is called a Chazaka - literally means strength, which means it denotes something that is used regularly - it accentuates the significance of the number 100 - which is the square root of 10. Accordingly, Tav which is the most used letters in the numbers, is the square root of 20. However, the Gematriot of Reish & Shin ARE NOT square roots. Moreover, just as I just pointed out a similarity between Koof=100 & Tav=400, the square root numbers 10 & 20 are also very connected with each other, because when the letter Yud=10 is spelled out as a word using the letters - Yud, Vav, Dalet - this word is the Gematria of 20. Indeed, the Hebrew word for the numbers of 10 & 20 are Eser & Esrim respectively - the only difference with the wordings as that there is a Yud & Mem added to the word Eser to make it Esrim as a plural word - making the word that means ten to make it twenty. However, the words for the numbers 30, 40, etc. do not match one another.

2)The angels declare Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh "Holy, Holy, Holy is Hashem Tzevakot..." in which the word Kadosh BEING USED THREE TIMES IN A ROW begin with KOOF which is being addressed to the ALUFO Shel Olam - Chief of the World, as the word ALUF (Chief) is similar to the word ELEF (One thousand). This seems to hint that Koof=100 being used three times in a row, making the Koof three times making a total of 300, is being hinted to by the fact that THE LETTER KOOF IS USED 300 TIMES UNTIL THE NUMBER 1,000!

Now, let's present the totals for the 22 letters of the Alef-Beit until Number 1,000:Each of the first 18 letters of the Alef Beit are used a total of 100 times - hence:100*18=1,800. Koof is used 300 times.Reish is used 200 times.Shin is used 200 times.Tav is used 800 times.Hence, 1,800+300+200+200+800=3,300.

Yes, there are a total of exactly 3,300 letters being used to make up the Hebrew numbers until Number 1,000. Now divide 3,300 by 999, and you get 3.033033. We see that the number three, which signifies something that is being in a habit of being used, as we see in Halacha/Jewish law, pops us again and again. Along these lines, the word Galgal/wheel - which is using the letters Gimel-Lamed - the Gematria of 33 -being used TWICE to make up this word, shows a pattern, as a wheel which keeps turning back to the same spot over and over again. And along these lines, the Gematria of the name of Alef - the FIRST letter of the Alef-Beit - is 111 - using the (unit of the) number one THREE TIMES IN A ROW, and in Hebrew, the FIRST number to consist of THREE letters is 111 - Koof, Yud, Alef, which is the Gematria of the name of the FIRST letters of the Alef Beit, and is a TRIPLE one in numerals. And the number 1,000 is composed of the number 10 being multiplied by itself THREE TIMES, as 10*10*10.

Now, the cycle of the numbers until 1,000 is in essence in a cycle of 100 numbers to determine the NEW leading letter or letters - except for the first set of numbers which is for 99 numbers rather than 100 numbers because there is no leader yet for WHO WILL BE THE LETTER LEADER FOR THE NEXT 100 NUMBERS, because even the second set of nine letters were only the first of the number for 10 numbers in a row. And while the first 10 numbers are the ONLY 10 numbers to be consisting of ONLY ONE LETTER, the 10th letter Yud - the Gematria of 10, while the end of this set of 10 numbers, IS THE FIRST LETTER to be the head of a number for 10 numbers in a row - THE SAME WAY as the letter Koof being the Gematria of 100 is the first letter to be the head of a number for 100 numbers in a row.

We see that in the world of numbers, the number nine is considered a dead end number.The truth is that all numbers when added up, and as shown in Gematria is based on one of the first nine numbers, which is called Mispar Katan - "Small Number", so let's take for example the number 612, when you add this up 6+1+2, this equals nine, and then the next number 613, as 6+1+3, equals 10, and 1+0 equals one. Hence, nine is the end of the numbers, and NOT the number 10, since ten comes back to one. Hence, while after the first 99, the cycle works in groups of 100, but the reality stares back in the face, because the cycle of 100 numbers works so long as there is a leading number for at least 100 times. However, after nine rounds of 100 each, the new number in Hebrew, though technically, you can use the letters Tav-Tav-Reish to be 1,000 - unless you continue on this path indefinitely, WE START OVER AGAIN WITH THE LETTER ALEF - for the next 1,000 numbers - at the beginning of a number, continuing on afterwards with Beit, Gimel, etc. through the letter Tav, but again, the last four letters will be used the most - and most notably the letter Tav - especially as the beginning of a number from the number 400,000 until 1,000,000 (one million, or 1,000*1,000), for a total of 600,000 - which was the total of male Jews from the age of 20 who left Egypt! (Note: The Midrash tells us that in fact, there were exactly 600,000 minus one male Jews from age 20 at the Exodus, but Hashem added Himself so to speak as one to make up this exact total).

And what do we see in the Torah - that Hashem told Abraham that the Jews would be slaves in another land outside Israel for 400 years. In fact, the Jews were in Egypt for 210, and even at that, were only slaves for 116 years, but the 400 years count to the Exodus began with the birth of Isaac, as Hashem told Abraham "your seed (which began with Isaac) will be in a land that is not theirs...for 400 years" (Genesis 15:13), and so the prediction of slavery doom began with Isaac as the Jews would not be officially inheriting the Land of Israel until after the Exodus, so in essence, were in a land that was not theirs for 400 years. In any case, the number 400 is the value of the letter Tav, which is used once again at the beginning of a number (after being used as such for only 600 times) for 600,000 times. Hence, we see two connections between the numbers 400 & 600,000!

ONE AND ZERO

A little earlier, I wrote about how the number three is commonly used in the makeup of the letters of the Alef-Bet. Taking this a step further about the 3,300 letters used for the first 999 numbers, let's divide 3,300 by three. From this, you have 1,100 three times. Hence, you have 1,100+1,100+1,100. With this said, you have a total of 12 numbers - six ones and six zeros. Hence, you can make two groups of 111 each, and as mentioned earlier, the word for the first letter of the Alef Beit is Alef which is the Gematria of 111. Hence, when multiplying 111 by two, you have 222, the number two being repeated three times.

And as we know, the first letter of the Torah is the letter Beit - the numerical value of two. We also see that this first letter in the Torah is an enlarged Beit - giving this special significance. We also mentioned earlier that there are 28 letters to the first verse of the Torah. Now, while we have in essence 22 letters of the Alef-Beit, there are a total of 27 when including the forms of five letters when marking the end of a word. Hence, this verse can be divided up into two parts - the big letter Beit which is like the introduction to the letter contents of the verse consisting of 27 letters which correspond to the grand total of 27 letters of the Alef-Beit. And the number 27 is made up of the number THREE being multiplied by itself THREE times - 3*3*3.

Speaking of the BIG letter Beit in relation to the next 27 letters, it was in the Hebrew year 5727 that ends with the number 27 that we Jews regained the holiest area in the world on which the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple used to stand. Once again, the lesson of the first Rashi on the Torah mentioning about our rights to the Holy Land despite the claims of the nations came to surface in reality.

Now, this first verse of the Torah states that G-d created the heavens and the earth, which is this world. And as our Rabbis tell us, this world will be in existence for 6,000 years. While this world was created for us to serve G-d, this world itself is a world of vanity and falsehood, for it hides the truth and what is the REAL thing, the spiritual world - which is the world of eternity, unlike this finite world of a mere 6,000 years with temporary pleasures which in themselves don't even begin to compare to the ultimate pleasure of beholding G-d's glory, which we can only truly understand what this feels like in the world of spirituality - the world of truth.

With this said, the SIX zeros of the above three sets of the number 1,100 come to play to demonstrate that the SIX thousand years are NOTHING compared to the ultimate spiritual world of eternal bliss. However, like a number in which zeros are added to at the end when the number becomes a real big number, we use this base physical and material world which is compared to zero or nothingness to turn it into spirituality FOR OUR ETERNAL BENEFIT. As noted by the Vilna Gaon, the Hebrew word for semen - Sichvat Zera - is the Gematria of 999 - which while results from physical pleasure which can be used for good or evil, it is the base for the fulfillment of the FIRST Mitzvah of the Torah of Pru Urvu - "Be fruitful and multiply" making up the DNA of the creation of a human being who will hopefully serve his or her purpose in this world to serve the ALUFO Shel Olam - Chief of the World, Who represents the concept of both Alef (1) as ONE G-d & Elef (1,000) the MASTER CHIEF, just as the letter Alef is used for the first time at the CHIEF of a number beginning with the number Elef! Also, the Gematria of the wording of the Torah for the first Mitzva of the Torah - Pru Urvu - is 500, and the minimum that it takes for one to fulfill this Mitzvah is two children - one male & one female, hence, 500 times two equals 1,000!

Just on a quick note for Parshat Matot - this week's Parsha. We see that in the second Aliyah of this Parsha, which many learn on the second day of the week as it falls out on today's date - 16 Tammuz, Moses declares to the people to take revenge on Midian for causing Israel to sin with idolatry and sexual immorality by taking 1,000 fighting men from each of the twelve tribes - Elef LaMateh Elef LaMateh (Numbers 31:4). Perhaps the reason why specifically 1,000 from each tribe, and being repeated as such, is to denote that we are supposed to emulate the ALUFO Shel Olam - the ultimate Chief of War, as demonstrated by the fact that the number for ELEF is the letter ALEF, now as the status of the Gematria of 1,000 for the next 1,000 letters. For in essence, we are all in war with our evil inclination who constantly tempts us to sin, and in order to successfully combat it, we have to remember the ALUFO Shel Olam - the ultimate CHIEF of the Army, in this world which is called Olam in Hebrew, which is cognate of the world Hellam - hidden, for this world hides spirituality, but it is up to us to see to it that we shine the world with spirituality.

POSITION OF STATUS IN THE ALEF-BEIT ARMY - ELEF LAMATEH - 1,000 PER TRIBE

There are various roles played by certain letters of the Alef Beit with their title being the very Gematria of how many times they are used at the beginning of a number.

MELECH/King - The first nine letters Alef thru Teit, as the plain Gematria of one through nine do not play a leading role in the numbering system until the number 1,000 when Alef becomes Elef, and then the following letters get their turn to be the same. However, at least for a short while, the next set of nine letters Yud thru Tzadi receive their turn to be the KING - the first letter - for ten consecutive times each (though technically, the first time being used they are the only letter making it obvious only for the next nine numbers). This occurs from the numbers 10 through 99, a total of 90 numbers, and 90 is the Gematria of Melech - King.

The following three letters Koof, Reish & Shin, are each used as the first letter of a number for 100 consecutive times each, for a total of 300 numbers from number 100 until number 400, and 300 is the Gematria of the word RAHK - only, indicating that it is ONLY these three letters that are the first of a number for 100 times which is a total of 300 numbers. This does not occur ever again in the sequence of the Alef-Beit numbers.

ADON/Master - Finally comes the last letter of the Alef-Beit: Tav. Up to this point, the first 18 letters appeared on the scene for a total of 40 times each, and the letters Koof, Reish & Shin appeared for a total of 100 times each. For the next 600 numbers, the letter Tav will appear for a total of 800 times, which is 100 MORE THAN THE COMBINED amount of times that the previous three letters appear for a total of 700 times (Koof-300, Reish-200, Shin-200). Meanwhile, this last letter has a little catching up to do to be equal with the amount of times that all the previous letters appeared. This happens in three stages:

1)After appearing for the first 40 numbers - 400 through 439, Tav has appeared the same amount of times as the letters Mem through Tzadi until now.

2)Tav goes through a middle stage to catch up with the same amount of times that the letters Alef through Lamed has appeared until now, as when they took turns with Tav, they appeared for either four more times- Alef through Teit, a total of 44 times, or for ten more times - Yud, Kaf, Lamed, for a total of 50 times. Tav is now in the SAME FOOTING as the letter Mem, and NEVER AGAIN will Tav be part of a number in which another letter has appeared more times in the numbers than Tav. TOGETHER, Tav & Mem appear for the 41st through the 50th times. Hence: 1)The first number for Tav to show evenness with some of the letters is 440 - Tav, Mem - which spells the word TAHM/plain, simple, indicating that the letter Tav at this time is just one of the letters of the Alef Beit that have appeared the same amount of times as some of the others, demonstrating this specifically through the letter Mem, as the 41st time. 2)Thus, when the next number 441 comes along - as the letters Tav, Mem, Alef - the Tav is NOT ONLY the first letter in a number, it is FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, able to show superiority to another letter BEING USED WITH IT. Hence, while the Tav appeared more times than the letters Alef through Teit when it became part of number 440, it is THE FIRST TIME that it is able to show superiority to another letter - Alef, that is appears with, for now Tav is the 42nd time, while Alef is only the 41st time. These three letters when spelled backwards spells the word EMET/truth, for now the truth is evident that TAV the last letter is superior to ALEF the first letter, and it is only when the numbers reach 1,000 that Alef becomes the new status of Elef, but not Alef as the numerical value of one. Also, it is this very number 441 using the three letters of Alef, Mem, Tav, that in the position of the total of the 27 letters when the five letters that look differently at the end of a word are in the position next to their regular looking forms, Alef is the first letter, Mem is the middle letter, and Tav is the last letter.

3)At the number 450, the letter Tav is NO LONGER on an equal fitting with the first 18 letters of the Alef Beit, for unlike Mem which was at an equal footing with Tav for the numbers 440 thru 449, the letter Noon is only the 41st in appearance while Tav is the 51st in appearance. And finally, at the number 499, there is no previous letter that has appeared more times than Tav, for Tav has now appeared for 100 times, in equal footing with Koof, Reish & Shin who each appeared 100 times already.

It is at the 499th number that Tav has finally caught up with the amount of times that the previous three letters before it Koof, Reish have appeared - and hence, these last four letters - Koof, Reish, Shin, Tav - have now appeared each for a total of 100 times. Thus, from when Tav first caught up with some of the letters at the 439th number THROUGH the 499th number when it caught up with ALL of the letters, there are a total of 61 numbers, the TAV now becomes an ADON - Master, for no longer are there any letters that have appeared more times than Tav, starting to show this at the 439th number when it appeared no less than some of the letters for the first time.

SAR/Minister - It is evident for the FIRST TIME at the number 500 that Tav has appeared no less than any of the other letters; because now that it is together with the letter Koof, which appeared the same amount of times as Reish & Shin, IT IS EVIDENT that Tav is no longer behind the amount of times than any of the other letters. Hence, this demonstrates in terms of all the numbers - and not just the numbers in which Tav was ahead of some of the numbers, that NEVER AGAIN will Tav be any less in appearance than any of the other letters. Hence, Tav isn't merely a leader over a small group of numbers, but a leader of ALL the numbers until now - reaching the rank of SAR - Minister, which is the Gematria of 500.

ROSH/head - When Tav & Alef were together for the last time at number 491, the Alef was still able to tell Tav "Yes, you may be ahead of me, but you are still behind the amount of times that Koof, Reish & Shin have appeared". Well now, the first letter Alef can no longer say this, because at Number 501, this is THE FIRST TIME that when Tav & Alef appear in the same number, that Alef can never again tell Tav that some letter has appeared more times than Tav. Hence, the letter Alef itself being the first letter of the Alef Beit, is part of the word ROSH/head, for now, Tav is the undisputed HEAD of at least most of the letters, as there is no other letter than is ahead of Tav in appearance times. It is at Number 501 that Tav becomes the ROSH - head, which is the Gematria of 501.

However, Tav is still not a permanent Rosh. You see, while there is no letter now that is ahead of Tav, it is only at Number 600 that Tav is head in appearance of ALL the other letters, for Tav & Koof appear together for the 101st through 200nd times.After this, when Tav appears for the 201st time, Koof has only appeared for 200 times. However, even as Tav & Reish meet for the first time at Number 600, and the Reish is in appearance for only the 101st time when Tav is able for the first time to say "I am ahead of all you letters!", Tav WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT IT IS THE HEAD FACE TO FACE, until it meets Koof at Number 900 as the letters Tav-Tav-Koof. It winds up that Koof is the LAST LETTER to meet with Tav as lesser in status than Tav. So while, the number 600 may seem to show that Tav is now ahead of ALL of the numbers, since the evidence isn't face-to-face, it looks like it is Sheker/Falsehood, as the word Sheker is both the Gematria of 600 AND this word uses the these letters of Koof, Reish & Shin, which were on equal footing at the time that Tav first appeared as the Number 400, which were around much more than the first 18 letters appeared only 30 times each at that time. Hence, it is only when at Number 900, Tav meets with Koof, the last letter to which Tav tells it "Now I am ahead of ALL of you", that Tav CAN SHOW FACE-TO-FACE that it is indeed the undisputed ROSH - the Gematria of 501, taking 501 numbers from 400 through 900 to validate this.

We can learn from this a valuable lesson. It is not only enough to say the truth at all times - but to be able TO PROVE THE TRUTH at all times. Indeed, the Rabbis in the Mishna tell us that it is important to "to be clear of guilt from Hashem and from Israel" a phrase coming from this week's Parshat Matot in which Moses tells the Tribes of Reuben & Gad who wanted to live on land that the Jews just conquered instead of moving to Israel that they should show that they are not looking to abandon Judaism by coming with the rest of the Jews to Israel to fight the wars with the nations inhabiting the Land that Hashem promised the Jews. It is not enough to claim that something is yours even if you know that it is true. According to Halacha, in order that it is yours when someone else claims that it is theirs, you have to have proof that it is yours in order to keep it in order that there isn't even any room to suspect that maybe you are stealing it when people think that it may belong to someone else. Another prime example of this concept is that people counting coins in the Temple could not be wearing any clothing that they could possibly hide some coins in because if afterwards, if they would become rich, others might say that the reason for this is because of the coins that they stole, or if they become poor, others will say that the reason for this is because Hashem punished them for stealing money.

Actually, I am far from the first person to be able to draw lessons from the Alef Beit of what goes on between the letters of the Alef-Beit which are actual spiritual beings as shown both in the Midrash & the Zohar, as well as how we can behave as good Jews. Aside from the various Seforim/holy books written in the last few decades on this subject, the original source for this is the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 104, as well as a Midrash that is devoted exclusively to this - Midrash Otiyiot d'Rabbi Akiva.

Now, I want to bring out a couple of interesting points pertaining to the amount of times that Tav appears in relationship to the other letters as it ascends the ladder.The truth is that at number 439, it is the first time that Tav becomes even with some of the letters of the Alef Beit - from Mem through Tzadi, as Tav appears for the 40th time; but it is only at the next number that Tav meets the first letter that is not ahead of it any more - the Mem at Number 440, both appearing for the 41st time.

This is most similar to the very theme of today's date - 16 Tammuz. While we learn that one of the five tragedies of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz - the day after is that the Luchot/Tablets of the Ten Commandments were broken by Moses because of the Jew sinning with the Golden Calf, the events leading to this began on today's date. As Rashi explains, the people misunderstood Moses when he said that he was coming back from the mountain at the end of 40 days during the morning, thinking that that day - 16 Tammuz was the day, since it was the 40th day from 7 Sivan when Moses first ascended Mt. Sinai to learn the Torah from Hashem. However, Moses did not mean this day but the next day since he meant 40 COMPLETE days; meaning 40 days and 40 NIGHTS, and since it was only during the daytime of 7 Sivan when Moses first went up, it wasn't until after the nighttime of 17 Tammuz that there were 40 complete days. Hence, it was only on the 41st day that Moses was to return, as it happened.

The question can be asked - why didn't Moses make it clear to begin with to state the exact date that he would be returning if he already knew exactly when? Had he done so, no doubt that all of the massive confusion and idol worshiping stuff wouldn't have taken place?

Perhaps one can answer that Moses didn't foresee how literal some Jews would attempt to make of his statements. But apparently, it wasn't meant for Moses to be 100% explicit about his exact date of return, but had said his return date in a little vague manner. Hashem knew exactly what was going to happen, and had Hashem wanted Moses to avoid misleading everyone, Hashem could have put the exact words in Moses' mouth through Divine Inspiration. However, there must have been a good reason for this why this did not happen.

You see, we see that when Tav appears for the 40th time, it now becomes even with some of the letters. However, it's time of showing this is only evident when it becomes the 41st letter simultaneous with the Mem becoming the 41st letter. Unlike in number 439 when Tav is still together with letters that have appeared for more times than Tav - Lamed & Teit each for the 50th time, it is ONLY at Number 440 that Tav NEVER AGAIN is NEXT TO A LETTER that is ahead of it in appearance times as it still was with the Lamed. While Tav will still be behind the amount of appearances for the following three numbers 441, 442 & 443 with Alef, Beit, & Gimel and then becomes even with Dalet at Number 444 when they both appear together for the 45th time, at least the first three letters of the Alef-Beit aren't right next to it as Tav is divided from them with Mem in the middle.

The point that I am making here is that a little room is left for others to do. Meaning, Moses did the bulk of the work receiving the Torah from Hashem for 40 days.However, it was left for the people to make just a little effort to show that they indeed were worthy of learning the Torah, and not that were simply spiritually pumped up for the big day when the Ten Commandments were recited by Hashem. The people, by not being given straight forward information that would tell them when Moses would return without mistaking the timing, the Jews were given a chance to make just a little effort of accepting what they were told without questioning it - and certainly not to perform actions that went 180 degrees against the Torah. Just as they exclaimed shortly before the Torah was given - Na'aseh V'Nishma - "We will do and we will listen" - so now, this was the very chance for them to prove that they meant what they said. All they needed to do was to show a little faith in Hashem & in Moses His servant, and even if it seemed that Moses did not return as he said, the least they could have done was to wait one day before deciding the next course of action. However, they had no patience waiting since their faith in Hashem was lacking, and the rest is history (aside from the Tribe of Levi who always had FULL faith in Hashem).

Similarly, though the Tav got even with some letters at number 439, it is only when it appears for the 41st time - as Moses returned on the 41st day - that this is evident when it appears with the Mem appearing also for the 41st time. These two letters - Tav & Mem - in Number 440, are the first letters of the words Torat Moshe, for it was on this 41st day from Moses ascending Mt. Sinai, which was also the day that Matan Torah/Giving of the Torah with the kickoff of the Ten Commandments, that Moses came back to the Jewish people ready to teach Torah for the first time as HE HAD LEARNT IT - the Torah of Moses. However, because the Jews messed up, this would be delayed until Yom Kippur when Moses came back from Mt. Sinai for the last time (the 2nd time of 40 days on Mt. Sinai was just praying to Hashem asking Him to forgive the Jews so they wouldn't be destroyed for their sin, and the last period of 40 days was to get from Hashem - His rewriting of the Ten Commandments on the newly constructed Tablets).

Speaking of Torat Moshe - the VERY LAST Rashi on the Chumash - the Five Books of Moses - mentions Hashem thanking Moses for breaking the first Tablets. Now, two questions can be asked here - 1)Why did Hashem thank Moses for this? Granted that Moses was in total disgust with the Jews for their untimely sin of idol worship only 40 days after they received Divine Communication and that he felt that they weren't ready to learn the Torah, but why should Hashem thank him for this? After all, it was only because Moses felt that he had no choice under the circumstances that he did this, bearing in mind that he broke something that was most holy. 2)Why does Rashi end off his commentary on the Chumash mentioning an unfortunate thing that took place, especially when we have a concept that not only we do not end off a piece of Torah learning with a concept that involves misfortune or evil, but we attempt to end off with something that is of fortune or good?

Rashi is teaching us something most valuable here. While we generally should have the attitude that we should make every attempt to reach out to all kinds of Jews - no matter how unobservant or unlearned they may be, there are times that we MUST NOT attempt to teach Torah to certain Jews, because they are looking to rebel and as we see with Christians missionaries - some of whom are Jewish - they look to use the Torah to turn Jews away from the Torah, from Judaism (including using Gematriot for this purpose - BEWARE!). This is exactly why when the Torah states in the story of the Jews worshiping the Golden Calf, that Moses threw the Tablets from his hands, Rashi does not hesitate to tell us that Moses noted that regarding the Pascal sacrifice that is eaten on the first night of Passover, that there is a Mitzvah that we don't allow an apostate Jew to eat of it; so certainly, when all of the Torah is here (the Ten Commandments encompasses all of the 613 Mitzvot), and the Jewish nation are apostates, should I give them the Torah?

The story is told of the early days of the Telz Yeshiva in the United States, that the Yeshiva students weren't all very serious about Torah learning and looked for various distractions that could take them away from the very reason that they were supposed to come to Yeshiva for. One morning, the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliyahu Bloch, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing, announced that they would not be having their usual learning session (which consists of pairs of students learning with each other) after breakfast, but that instead, he was going to speak to them. In his lecture, he told them that he was ready to close the Yeshiva, mentioning the above last Rashi on the Torah about Moses breaking the Tablets since the Jews weren't worthy of them. This is to say that if the Torah is not being treated the right away, then the Torah has to be stopped from being disgraced, even if it means that the Yeshiva would have to be closed. After his speech, he stopped for a bit, and then he stated that he would only allow the Yeshiva to remain open on one condition - that all of the students would shake hands with him with an agreement to follow the rules of the Yeshiva that would mean that they wouldn't allow distractions to continue stopping them from learning Torah. Luckily, all of the students agreed, and today, the Telz Yeshiva is one of the leading Yeshivot in the United States.

Now, just as I mentioned that at Number 440, it is the first time that Tav is sitting next to another letter (Mem) with an even amount of appearances; so it is at Number 600 that for the first time, the Tav - when sitting next to Reish - that it is able to state that it is ahead of ALL of the numbers, since at the previous number of 599, it was still even with Koof both appearing for the 200th time. But at Number 600, the Tav appears for the 201st time, while the Koof takes a rest, and the Reish is now appearing only for the 101st time. The letters for Number 600 - Tav, Reish - are the first letters of the phrase Torat Rebbe, for it was Rebbe - Rabbi Judah the Prince, upon seeing the trouble that were happening to the Jewish people and was hence afraid that the Torah would be forgotten, wrote down the Mishna - the foundation of the Oral Torah/Law that was not allowed to be written down up to that time - to ensure that the Torah would not be forgotten. Indeed, the original form of the Mishna consisted of exactly 600 tractates, and Rebbe wrote down the Mishna in a shortened form to make it easier for quicker comprehension.

As per the above with Moses & Rebbe, in Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers, which begins mentioning about Moses receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai and was since handed down from generation to generation, the first chapter begins with the word Moshe/Moses, and the second chapter begins with the word Rebbe, referring to Rabbi Judah the Prince.

And finally on the subject of Torah as it relates to the Alef-Beit, as the letter Tav appears 800 times until 1,000, the Hebrew number for 800 is Tav-Tav, which are the initials for the phrase Talmud Torah - which is the greatest Mitzvah of the Torah, in which EACH WORD OF TORAH is equal (in spiritual benefit and eternal bliss brownie points) to ALL the other Mitzvot of the Torah!

A COUPLE OF RELATED TIDBITS

Well, one has to do with the number of this post - 111. I am referring specifically to Psalm 15 - the ONLY psalm that is written in its entirety (consisting of five verses) in the Talmud, on the concluding Daf (double sided folio) of Tractate Makkot (24a), and the name of this tractate Makkot is the Gematria of my first name Shimon (466). Now, you will see a list in some books of Tehillim/Psalms of the names of the Parshiyot with a corrsponding Psalm. For Parshat Kedoshim - the week in which I was born - it is Psalm 15. Now, the first letter of the name of this Parsha - Kedoshim - begins with a Koof which has a numerical value of 100. Now, in the context of the Talmud, it mentions that King David listed 11 virtues in this Psalm for Jews to follow. Thus, the way to remember this is 100+11 which equals 111. And by the way, I was born on Alef Iyar, and the letter Alef when spelled out as a word is the Gematria of 111.

The other thing that I have in mind kind of relates to what I wrote earlier about the 6,000 years of the world's existance and the amount of the letters of the Alef-Beit -which are either 22 or 27, depending on how the letters are used, the difference being five letters which have a distinct form only at the end of a letter.

Now, let's divide 6,000 by 22, and the answer is 272.72727. This number seems to hint to the Hebrew year 5727, the year that the holy area of the world in Jerusalem was liberated from the Arabs and returned to Jewish hands. This was especially a favorable time for the Jewish people, as hinted in some Torah sources, marking what could have been the time of the Redemption. As you can see in the number 272, the last two digits 72 is the Gematria of Chesed/Kindness, and the remainder of 72727 keeps repeating the number 72. The year 5727 is 272 years until Year 6000, the time of the end of the world's existance, and the last three digits of the number of the year itself begins the very trend of the remainder of 272.72727 - 727! Yes, it is the Holy Letters that hint to the Holiest Area of this world which is slated for 6000 years of the world's existance.

Now, let's divide 6,000 by 27, and the answer is 222.22222. Looking at the results of the two math questions - the answer reflects one of the numbers of the other equation. The previous answer of 272.72727 most parallels the number 27 here, and the answer of this paragraph's math question - 222.22222, most parallels the number 22 in the other equation. Thus, we see a VERY STRONG RELATIONSHIP between the numbers 22 & 27 in relationship to the number 6,000. Indeed, we learn in Kabbala that Hashem created the world with the letters of the Alef-Beit, and so even if there is an argument about whether it was created with 22 letters or 27 letters - there is really no contradiction between when it divides the number 6,000, the number of the years of the world's existance, because it hints to the other number!

We see a similar concept of this in the Torah. While Joseph was in prison at one point, the Chief Butler & the Chief Baker were thrown into prison at the same time. Moreover, both of them had dreams on the same night. But the amazing thing that we learn is that each of them dreamed their own dream - WITH THE INTERPRETATION OF THE OTHER ONE'S DREAM. However, each of them forgot the interpretation of the other one's dream once they wake up, remembering only the contents of their own dream, as it was meant for Joseph to interpret their dreams. However, the fact that each of these two dreamed the other one's dream interpretation highlights the above concept of each number hinting to the other when dividing the number 6,000.

Now, getting back to the number result of 222.22222, when this number 222 is subtracted from 6,000, we arrive with the number 5778. I have seen on the internet where there are those who predict this number year to be the year of the Redemption. Why I have strong reasons to believe that the Redemption could very well appear sooner, what I will say is that one thing that I saw in relationship to this number is that the Parshat Behar consists of 57 verses, and the next Parsha - Parshat Bechokotei, which is read together with Parshat Behar in some years, consists of 78 verses; and hence, putting these two numbers reads 5778. Moreover, both of these Parshiyot mention something about the concept of redemption - the first Parsha speaking of redeeming land, and the second Parsha speaking of redeeming tithes. In any case, it will take a little time after Moshiach comes for the Temple to be rebuilt. The word for the letter Beit which is the numerical value of two, is a word that also spells the word Bayit/house or home, for it is the Beit HaMikdash that is the Holiest Home in the world. And it is the answer to the second math equation - 222.22222 that most eloquently describes this, as the ultimate purpose of the physical place of this world that will be in existance for 6,000 years is the holiest physical place in this world - the Holy Temple.

WHAT HAPPENED SEVEN YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE?

While today may mark a special day in the life of a blogspot that I started marking today as the 1,000th day, this date - 16 Tammuz - also marks the 7th Yarhzeit of a very dear friend of mine, who passed away shortly before his 40th birthday - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Horn of blessed memory. Aside from his wide knowledge of Torah learning and also taught Torah classes, he lived to do kindness for others, only thinking of himself as last. On a personal note, he had done all kinds of favors for me, including inviting me over his house countless of times, and going out of his way to give me a ride to places he was going to before I had a car. For several years, he traveled all over the United States visiting Jews incarcerated in various prisons and making all kinds of arrangements for them working on behalf of the Alef Institute. In time, he left to work as a lawyer for which he already studied for several years earlier, and made a big Kiddush Hashem/Sanctification of Hashem's name in his position as a lawyer, making a good impression on secular Jewish lawyers who could not help but love this special person. It is also comforting that he left behind a most loving and special wife of nearly eight years of marriage and two daughters.

I find the timing of Rabbi Horn's passing to be at a most auspicious time. First of all, just as his name was Moshe Chaim and he passed away in his 40th year, so too was there a Rabbi of a few hundred years ago with the same Hebrew name - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato - who passed away in his 40th year. Moreover, both of their Yahrzeits - Rabbi Luzzato on 26 Iyar & Rabbi Horn on 16 Tammuz, fall out on the same day of the week in any given year. Also, the initials of his name Moshe Chaim spell the number 48, and he passed away on Monday, the day of the week that the Levites recited Psalm 48; and as it happened this year, his 7th Yahrzeit fell out on a Monday.

And finally, just as 16 Tammuz was the 40th and final day of the first Moshe being on Mt. Sinai learning the Torah from Hashem while the Jews, when Satan ON THIS VERY DATE showed the Jews an image of Moses being dead exclaiming "Moshe is dead"; so too, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Horn passed away in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach in his 40th year on this very date! Very unfortunately, it seems that these fateful words "Moshe is dead" got fulfilled in another sense thousands of years later on the same date as they were originally pronounced, similar to when the Jews cried on the night of the 9th of Av thanks to the slanderous report about Israel from the evil spies; and in response, Hashem said "You are crying on this night for no reason, so I will give you a reason for you to cry on this very night (9th of Av - Tisha B'Av) in the future".

Fortunately, my dear friend was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. It was within a year after his passing that I moved to Israel, and every year - except when the Yahrzeit fell out on Shabbat - I have visited his gravesite to say prayers on his behalf. However, today, it was the very first time when I was there - when I was almost finished saying my prayers - that a Minyan, a group of 10 men - appeared all of a sudden at his gravesite. It was a little comforting to me, especially since after he passed away, I saw quickly how few friends I had, because nobody in my departed friend's neighborhood gave a damn about calling me about his passing or in the previous week when he was in the hospital following his sudden heart attack. It was only after the Shiva was over did a brother of mine who found out through the grapevine inform me, for he knew that if I would have found out sooner, that no doubt that I would have told him. Well today, while all of those who knew how to contact me but forgot all about me are still living off the fat of the land of exile, I live the closest to my dear friend, though not exactly in the way that I would prefer. Thus, today was the first time that I had a chance to answer a Kaddish recited on his behalf after seven years since he passed away. The only other thing that I will say is that if everyone was like my good friend Moishe who lived to think about others and help them, Moshiach would have come a long time ago.

In conclusion, while we may have some setbacks and losses of dear ones in our lives, we learn from the Alef Beit that we have to move on to new things in life, just like the Alef becomes Elef when it reaches 1,000, starting on a new path - being a leader for the first time - not only as the first letter in a list of letters, but being able to show that it has leadership capabilities. It is in this spirit that we have to forge ahead in life, using our past experiences to not only not keep us back from living our daily lives, but to take over leadership roles from others who have already served their time and now it is for us - the new generation - to take over and make this world a better place.

16 Tammuz 5771

P.S. A good discovery in time for my 111st Post on the 1,000th day of www.gematriot.blogspot.com. This blogpost is now featured on moshiach101.blogspot.com, which lists numerous other blogposts and links related to all types of interesting topics in Judaism. Keep up the good work!

About Me, Myself & I (Nefesh, Ruach & Neshama)

Born on Rosh Chodesh Iyar-1 Iyar- mentioned twice in the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar-Book of NUMBERS,I was born with a special GIFT OF HASHEM to reveal Torah Secrets through the means of Gematriot-value of NUMBERS of the Holy Hebrew Letters.
On Sunday,Rosh Chodesh Nissan 5768,I gave myself a 2nd Hebrew name- Matisyahu,which means GIFT OF HASHEM-naming myself after Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Kohen Gadol,the patriach of the Maccabees,who had no fear disobeying the Anti-Semitic orders of the Syrian-Greeks who forbade Jews to serve Hashem & fought for the truth that led to the holiday of Chanuka.
On Sunday,26 Kislev 5770-the 2nd day of Chanuka of this year,my added name of Matisyahu revealed itself in two ways.1)Chanuka=89,the last seven days of Chanuka beginning with the 2nd day of Chanaka was the 89th week from when I gave myself this holy name, naming myself after the righteous person who was responsible for the holiday of Chanuka.2)I got married and celebrated Sheva Berachot on this very week.The revelation of Matisyahu-GIFT OF HASHEM-was the best Chanuka gift that I ever received from Hashem,or from anyone else for that matter-my Eishet Chayil & beloved wife Yael.